"To preface this argument — I’m not saying 'We don’t have a gun problem; we have a masculinity problem.' An argument like that would be reductive and ignorant because the problem at hand is absolutely guns. But we have a masculinity problem, too. Violence and destruction are centerpieces of American masculinity. Ocean Vuong put it best:
'In this culture we celebrate boys through the lexicon of violence. ‘You’re killing it,’…‘blow them up,’ ‘you went into that game guns blazing,’ …and what happens to our men and boys when the only way they can valuate themselves is through the lexicon of death and destruction?'
Vuong asks, 'What happens to our men and boys?' Well, they learn that to be a man is to destroy, to dominate and to wield power over others. Rather than measuring the soul of a man in relationships, experiences, love, or service, a man is measured by his ability to dominate others, whether through money, influence, sex, or death."
~ Paige Wasserman
Opinion | "Guns and American masculinity are inextricably linked" - The Pitt News
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